January Updates

Welcome back to a New Year!  I hope you had a great Christmas and were able to spend time with your family.  We are into the second half of the school year and I can’t believe how fast the first half has flew by.  I guess that’s a good thing because it shows that I’m not dreading coming to school and teaching this group of grade eights. :)   We have a lot of things happening in the next part of the school year.

ELA

We will be finishing our unit on Greek Mythology.  Students were introduced to an activity in which they are creating a mixed beast that would be important in Greek mythology.  They are writing a poem and legend for their mixed beast.  They will then be creating a digital project with the assignment.  I look forward to seeing the final product. 

Our next unit is called “No Limits” it is exploring how people stretch their limits.  The unit is a digital book club unit.  Basically what this means is that we will be doing this unit with three other schools.  Students will be each assigned a novel that has to do with the theme of “No Limits”.  In their book group, their will be students from the three other schools.  (St. Matthew, St. Augustine, St. Josaphat)  Students will be required to read a section of their novel each week.  Then they will be involved in a Live Chat (on a secure site) each week with the members from each of the school who are reading that book.  Each live book chat will be supervised by a teacher who will lead the discussion.  The students will then respond in the live chat to the questions that have been posed by the teacher which has to do with current events in which everyday people have pushed their limits.  They will also have an opportunity to discuss the book they are reading.  The second part of the unit will require students to “blog” about their book and complete assignments about the section of the book they read.  The assignments will relate to the reading strategies.   I have done this type of digital book club for the past couple of years with other schools and the students really enjoy it.  During our live chat sessions it is dead silent, except for the clicking of keyboards as students type their responses.  It is pretty amazing to see the students so focused and engaged in the activity.  If you have any questions about this inter-school unit please let me know.

Next Better than a Book Report will be due February 5^th.

Math

We are currently learning about Surface Area.  This can be a bit more of a difficult unit for some because it does require students to think in 3D. 

Science

We will be wrapping up our Water Systems unit and moving to Fluids and Density for our next unit.

Grade 8 Farewell

It is that time of year to start thinking about Grade 8 Farewell!  Hard to believe I know!  We will having the meeting on Wednesday, February 17^th from 6:00 – 7:00 pm in the library.  During the meeting we will go over particulars of the farewell. 

Miller Spend A Day

It is also that time of year to start thinking about high school!  Miller is our feeder school and therefore, a guidance counsellor will be coming out next Friday on January 19^th in the morning to discuss with the students a bit about our Miller Spend a Day that will take place on February 6^th.  Students will come to school at the regular time on Feb. 6th day.  We will leave shortly after 9 am.  Miller will be providing lunch for the students so they do not need to bring a lunch.  We will return around 2:30 pm.   Whether your child is planning on going to Miller or another high school, this day gives your child an opportunity to see what high school life is like.  Attendance is expected even if your child isn't going to Miller.  If your child will be out of town, no worries, I will ensure that they receive all of the information that they need to know about the registration process etc.  I will send out an email closer to the date with any additional updates.

Downhill Skiing

We will be going downhill skiing on February 7^th.  A letter was sent home yesterday with your child, letting them know about this day so please make sure that you got the letter.  We specifically chose to go during the middle of the week to avoid tournaments and such.

Humanitarian Project

We have a student in grade eight who has a great opportunity to go to Peru and volunteer in an orphanage.  The group that she is travelling with is collecting items to put in two humanitarian suitcases.  I thought it would be cool for the grade eights to help out with this great experience.  I have attached a list of the items in the email that I sent to you.  If you have any of these items at home, please feel free to send them to school.  We will collect the items and then the student will be able to take these items to give to the orphanage.   Below is a bit more detail of what kind of condition the items from the attached list need to be in and other ways you can help donate if you choose to.

They are looking for items such as used children's glasses frames, used back packs,  flip flops in good condition and insulated lunch kits new or in used in good condition. They would take any of the items on the attached list (no outdated medical supplies) or donations to purchase items. If doing donations they take cash or cheques payable to R.R.M.R.R.  All donations of $20.00 or more are eligible for a tax receipt for charitable donation. However, they would just be happy and grateful to get people's used items that they no longer have use for but are still in good condition to fill the two suitcases.

I think that wraps up another long winded update from me!